Due to complaints from parents and community members about faulty radon testing in 2009, the Board recently decided to install 648 radon-testing canisters, spread throughout all district buildings.
At a recent Board meeting, District parents expressed dissatisfied views about the faulty testing the district did in 2009. According to district parents, an unlicensed person performed the testing, the District did not follow Illinois Emergency Management Association (IEMA) regulations, and an insufficient amount of canisters were installed, testing only a small amount of space.
Radon is a radioactive gas that is undetectable by smell or taste. Radon is also the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States today.
District parent Eileen Maloney expressed her views to the Board at their November 17 meeting.
“To say we are frustrated by the quality of information we are receiving this year is an understatement,” Maloney said. “If the District were a corporation and the parents were shareholders, District 95 would be facing fines and penalties. But since we are merely parents concerned about the health and well-being of our children, District 95 is free to provide inaccurate and misleading information unless you, the school board, stop it.”
The Board of Education has vowed to solve the problem by properly installing the canisters in all ten district buildings.
The installment of the radon testing canisters will cost about $7,600, plus about 84 hours of labor to install the canisters. However, grants from the American Lung Association and the IEMA are helping to fund the project.
Director of Facilities Lyle Erstad, who was recently trained in radon testing, told the Board the testing will further enhance the learning environment.
Most Board members said there is currently no conclusive evidence that any radon is present in any of the classrooms throughout the district.
“I don’t think that we have any reason to say that [the tests will come back positive],”
Kathy Brown, Board president, said.
Despite most Board members agreeing there will not be any signs of radon, Board member Doug Goldberg disagreed with the majority at the Board meeting.
“We are probably going to find some radon leakage. I think it’s hard to believe we wouldn’t find any,” Goldberg said.
Visual inspections for mold will also take place while the canisters are being installed. The canisters will sit in the classrooms for two to five days, and then be sent to a lab and tested for levels on radon. Temperature, relative humidity, and carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide levels will also be tested with the canisters.